The present invention relates to a side vehicle-body structure of a vehicle which comprises a load transmitting member to transmit an impact load inputted to a rear door from a vehicle side to various vehicle-body portions.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2008-24236 discloses a structure in which a load transmitting member extending inward, in a vehicle width direction, from a rear edge of a rear-door opening portion is fixed onto a floor panel. According to this structure, since an impact bar of a rear door is received by the load transmitting member from the vehicle inside when an impact load is inputted to the rear door from a vehicle side, the impact load is transmitted from the load transmitting member to various vehicle-body portions through the floor panel. Thereby, the impact load inputted to the rear door can be dispersed effectively to the various vehicle-body portions, so that the rear door can be properly restrained from coming into a vehicle compartment for the passenger's protection.
According to the structure of the above-described patent document, however, since the load transmitting member has a specified thickness, in a vehicle longitudinal direction, and is arranged to project beyond an edge of the rear-door opening portion in the vehicle longitudinal direction, a smooth ingress/egress action of the passenger may be prevented by this load transmitting member improperly. Meanwhile, it may be considered that the rear edge of the rear-door opening portion is arranged at a further forward position so that the load transmitting member can be positioned in back of the rear edge of the rear-door opening portion. In this case, however, an area of the rear-door opening portion may be improperly reduced, which deteriorates the passenger's smooth ingress/egress action as well.
Then, it may be considered that the longitudinal thickness of the load transmitting member is designed to be thinner in order to properly arrange the load transmitting member in a narrow space, in the vehicle longitudinal direction, between the rear edge of the rear-door opening portion and a front edge of a rear-wheel house.
In this case, however, there is a concern that the load transmitting member may easily fall down forward or rearward when the impact load is inputted to the rear door from the vehicle side, so that the proper load-transmission function of the load transmitting member may not be attained sufficiently.
Moreover, since the load transmitting member may easily fall down forward or rearward, it may be considered that the load transmitting member is arranged to be offset inward, in the vehicle width direction, from the rear-wheel house and also to further extend rearward. In this case, however, a gap, in the vehicle width direction, between the rear door and the load transmitting member expands improperly, so that the rear door may improperly easily come into the vehicle compartment.